


Come Home Soon

by Leky88



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, Being Lost, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Kidnapping, Undercover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:21:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28383147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leky88/pseuds/Leky88
Summary: A routine secret mission becomes a struggle and a life.
Relationships: Ellie Bishop & Nick Torres, Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres
Comments: 20
Kudos: 38





	1. 1. Hope dies last

**Author's Note:**

> A routine secret mission becomes a struggle and a life.

It shouldn't have gone like this. She shouldn't have been in that position or in this room. She shouldn't have looked at the little person in that kind of position. She had been sitting here for almost twenty days and twenty nights. Her daughter was attached to a wire that helped her breathe and monitor her heart rate. Ellie hoped until her birth that the doctors were wrong and that her heart wasn't in such a bad condition. But not only was her daughter born a month earlier, but she was born with a heart defect. Even the girl's father didn't know what was going on. Actually, the girl's father even had no idea that she even existed. Her father had been gone for months and no one knew anything about him.

Ellie stroked her little girl's tiny hand. And she burst into tears again as the girl gripped the breast from her sleep with her tiny hand. She knew that the little one was a great warrior. From this point of view she was so similar to her father.

"Angel, we can handle it all together," Ellie told the little girl.

She named her Angel because she was her little angel. She thought about her name for a long time. She had several names planned, but Angel was the choice as soon as she heard her cry and learned about her health. She wondered, if the girl's father would agree with the name. What would he say that she was born to this world? She had been thinking about the little one's father ever since she found out she was pregnant. She knew that even though he never wanted children, he would love little Angel. She managed to win the hearts of everyone around her. The little girl still had a long fight to go, but Ellie knew the little one could do it all.

A few more weeks passed, and Ellie was still in the hospital with her little one. Angel had already undergone surgery and doctors were careful in their prognoses about her health. Ellie hadn't slept much in those weeks, she was afraid the little one would disappear, if she closed her eyes for a moment.

There was also Ellie‘s mother who helped her with everything. Barbara asked about the girl's father, but Ellie was still silent. Anyway, Barbara may already have known who might have been the father, the baby looked very much like him. Ellie didn't tell anyone who her daughter's father was, even though everyone who knew her father, one look was enough to easily guess who Angel’s father is.

Ellie‘s mother was just gone when there was a knock on the room door. After her quiet „Come in.“ Gibbs entered the door.

"Hi, how are you feeling, Ellie? And how is your little girl?" he asked in a low voice.

"Hi, Gibbs … I … it'll be okay. And Angel … it'll still be a fight, but for now it looks like she's fighting successfully," she replied quietly. She was afraid that if she started talking louder, Angel would wake up and Ellie didn't want her to.

"She looks like her dad, and I believe she's the same warrior as him," he smiled, stroking the little girl lightly over her tiny hand.

"Yes ... Gibbs, I wish he was here to see her. Are there any news?" Ellie asked.

"No ... no, unfortunately, there are not. His alias disappeared and he last reported 6 months ago when he connected with the two agents. Ellie, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I know, I'm just sorry I didn't have time to tell him. Gibbs, I'm sorry we didn't tell you we were together," she began to cry again.

"I know it's hard, but now you have to think of your daughter, she will need you now. And whenever you need something, the team is here for you. You're not alone, you have us. And for your information, I knew about you," he smiled at her and shook her shoulder encouragingly.

"Thank you. I know I'm not alone … it means a lot to me … thank you," she smiled at him, stood up and hugged him.

Later, when everyone went away, Ellie was left alone with her daughter. She knew she had to sleep, but she couldn't ... she didn't want to. She had to keep looking at her little baby. Her mind began to run back to the past, and Ellie began to remember her daughter’s her father. She went 6 months back and looked for signs of what might have gone wrong, but she found nothing. She had been very worried before the mission and felt it was all a bad idea, but neither Vance nor anyone else wanted to hear it.

_Six months earlier_

_She and Nick had been together for 5 months, but they hadn't told anyone yet. They were afraid of what the team would say, especially Gibbs. But they were happy together. Everything worked as it should. They enjoyed this relationship and they both knew it would last for a long time. The only one who knew about her relationship was Nick's sister Lucia. Everything went well until the day when Vance called Nick to his office. The whole meeting lasted almost an hour and when Nick returned, he looked more upset than ever. None of them saw him like that. Gibbs led him aside and asked him what was going on._

_"What's going on, Torres?" Gibbs asked._

_"Vance wants to send me undercover, but I can't tell anyone. Just you, Gibbs. The others mustn't know. It would be too dangerous for me," Nick explained._

_"So what am I supposed to tell the team?" Gibbs asked._

_"Tell them that I was given a task. I will try to end it all quickly and return home as soon as possible," he replied._

_"I'll try to come up with something, but Nick, you should at least tell Bishop. She deserves to hear it from you."_

_"Gibbs, there's nothing between me and Bishop," Nick said._

_"Nick, just tell her. She deserves it. And as for the two of you, it's okay," he patted him on the shoulder and left._

_Nick stood there for a moment, wondering how he should say Ellie all about it. Gibbs was right, she deserved to know the truth._

_Later that day, when only Ellie and Nick remained in the office, Nick decided he had to tell her everything._

_"Hey, Ellie, can I talk to you, please?" Nick stopped her as she tried to go home._

_"Are you talking to me? You haven't talked to me or anyone else all day. What's going on?" she asked._

_"Vance asked me to take one secret task. I'm not sure about it, but I have to go. You're the first person besides Gibbs, whom am I telling about it. You deserve to know. Others don't have to know."_

_"What is the task about?" she asked._

_"Can we go anywhere else? The walls here have ears and no one else is supposed to know," he said and they left together._

_"So what's going on? What kind of a mission is this?" she asked as they were in her apartment._

_"Vance is sending me to South America. I have to infiltrate a cartel that sells weapons and drugs. They are responsible for getting some of those things to us in the States. Apparently one of them is connected to the Navy. That's why Vance wants me to get there to help stopping it. I'll be in touch with two other agents. We have to stop it all before it's too late. It's an interagency cooperation," he explained to her at least part of his task._

_"It sounds dangerous. You don't even know the two other agents you're going to get involved with. How you can trust them?"_

_"I don't know them, but Vance said they were trustworthy and had been working on it for months. But they need help. Someone who had been working on something like that before and therefore Vance suggested me," Nick explained._

_"Of course you couldn't say no," she asked irritably._

_"I tried, but the director was very desperate and wanted someone with experience, so the choice was on me. Ellie, don't worry, nothing will happen ... inside and out as always. I'll be home soon, nothing will happen," he tried to reassure her, but obviously it didn't help much._

_"I just feel bad about it. I know you're good at your job, but it's just that feeling. I can't describe it exactly, but I don't like it. And at the same time I know I can't stop you." Ellie said._

_"Nothing really will happen, I promise. It will be a quick operation. For a few weeks at most. I'll try not to take long," he smiled at her and leaned in for a kiss._

_He knew it was their last kiss in a few weeks, so he put all his feelings and emotions into it. He really didn't want to, but they had to say goodbye. He kissed her deeply again and for the last time. Even he didn't want to, he had to leave. Ellie tried not to cry, but it was a futile fight. When Nick closed the door while leaving, she burst into tears._

_Everything was all the worse because she had no one to confide in. The only person she could and had to confide in was Nick's older sister Lucia. Ellie wondered, if Nick had told her where he was going. She decided to call her tomorrow and talk to her about it. She knew Lucia didn't like it when Nick went undercover. In the years since he has been back in DC, she has grown accustomed to her brother being out of the area and relatively safe. And this mission was very dangerous and Ellie was badly worried about it._

Her daughter's crying brought her back. She tried to calm the baby down and started cradling her back to sleep. She paid no attention to her own tears. All she cared about now was her daughter.

The next few days went practically the same. She took care of her daughter, whose condition was improving. The doctors were already more optimistic and gave the little one more chances than the day when she was born. She was a month and a half old and everything seemed better. Visits came to her almost every day. Ellie was grateful for that, but it was obvious that she wished only one person to come to visit her, Nick Torres, the father of the little girl Angel Nicol Torres. But she knew it wouldn't come true. She knew Nick was lost somewhere in South America and no one had reported him for more than six months. It was like all those years ago when she first met him.

Ellie returned in her memories a few months back.

_It had been almost three weeks since Nick had gone into deep secrecy. She was starting to feel bad and still tired. She blamed herself for worrying about Nick. She didn't want to show her weakness in front of Gibbs. She didn't want him to see her weak._

_"Hey Oklahoma girl, what's going on?" Billy asked her. He was a replacement as he was assigned to the team instead of Nick. Billy never called her otherwise after he found out he was from Oklahoma._

_"Nothing, I'm fine," she snapped._

_Billy Mainns was an incredibly intrusive and bloated guy who thought the whole world was at his feet. Vance had him transferred to the team from Rota in Spain. But as Ellie learned, he changed teams one after another. Mainns did not get along with his co-workers in any team which he was on and caused many problems. The fact that he was transferred to DC was actually a form of punishment for him. Vance hoped Mainns would fit into Gibbs' team at least a little. He hoped Mainns to learn something from Gibbs and change his behavior a little. Otherwise, he would have to take much more strict measures._

_"Come on, Oklahoma, don't be so mean again. I just asked, if something was wrong with you."_

_"Nothing's happening, and even if something happened, I'd never tell you, Mainns," Ellie said._

_"I don't understand why you're still so hostile. I know I'm not Torres, with whom you obviously get along very well. But for your information, I'm here and he's not, so you'll have to come to terms with it. Because I'm just not going to leave this team," he growled at her angrily._

_"When Nick comes back, you'll fly off this team so you won't even have time to count the stairs," she replied angrily._

_It was just another of their quarrels that the two of them had in those three weeks. Ellie didn't like him from the beginning, and there was something about him that got on her nerves. Unfortunately, she was unlucky that he was her working partner, so quite often she had to be alone with him. When it was Nick, she never minded. When she and Nick went somewhere together for work, the car was always full of fun and teasing. Nothing like that happened with Mainns. He looked at her as if there was some prey she could catch. She didn't like his flirtation with her, it was way too annoying. It was all different with Nick._

_Gibbs just sent them to hear the witnesses to their current case. Ellie suppressed her nausea and got up and went to hear the witnesses with Mainns. When they were in the car, Ellie felt sick again. Unfortunately, Mainns noticed that and stopped the car._

_"Hey, are you really okay? You look sick actually," he asked her._

_"Yeah, don't worry and get back on the road, we have work to do," Ellie growled._

_"Well, as always, I just wanted to help, but if you don't want to, I won't be care anymore,“ he replied in the exact same tone._

_Later that day, she asked Gibbs, if she could go home earlier because she wasn't feeling well. Gibbs looked at her all worried, but he agreed and sent her home. He told her to take a few days off to get well and be ready to work again. She started to panic, because even after a few more days her condition did not improve, she was still sick and tired. Even though she knew it was unlikely, she took a pregnancy tests. She just wanted to be sure, although she knew that she and Nick had always been careful most of the time. But she wanted to be sure._

_The news caught her off guard. She wasn't ready for this, she was sure they were careful with Nick, but she was obviously wrong. She was here without him now, expecting his baby. According to her doctor, she was already in the third month of pregnancy. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know, whom to tell first. She knew she had to deal with it on her own. Then she had to go to Gibbs and tell him. He must have known, mainly because of her work._

_"Gibbs, I need to talk to you about something important," she stopped at his desk._

_McGee and Mainns looked at her curiously, waiting to see what would happen._

_"Okay, I’m listening, Bishop," he urged._

_"I need to talk to you privately, it's important ... very important," Ellie insisted._

_Gibbs got up and walked slowly to the elevator, waiting for Ellie to follow. When they were both in the elevator, Gibbs stopped it and waited for what Ellie wanted to tell him._

_"Ellie, what's going on?"_

_"I'm pregnant," she said so quickly that she thought Gibbs didn't even understand her._

_"You know what that means. You'll have to stay off the field. You'll have to stay here, look for evidence, maybe even question the suspects, but I won't let you in the field."_

_"And you won't even ask me who father is?" Ellie asked._

_"It's none of my business," he told her._

_But what she didn't expect was that Gibbs unexpectedly hugged her and whispered "Congratulations." into her ear. Then he turned the elevator on again, and the two got out and joined the team. The two men waited for one of them to say something, but she and Gibbs were silent._

She got back into the present and this time it was not her daughter who disturbed her, but someone who came to her room to visit.

"Hi, Oklahoma, how are you?" Billy said too loudly, waking her daughter, who began to cry out loud.

"Idiot, you just woke my daughter. What do you want here?" Ellie asked angrily, trying to calm the baby down.

"I just wanted to see you," he replied.

"You could have waited until I got home. Me and my daughter will be released in three weeks," she told him.

"I wanted to see you now," he smiled at her with his strange smile, which had always been reserved for her and which Ellie had never liked at all.

"Well, you saw me and you can leave again," she growled angrily at him.

"Don't be so unfriendly with me all the time, I didn't do anything to you. I want to be your friend. And I'm just wondering how you're doing."

"Get out, I won‘t talk about this now. My daughter needs to rest and I'm tired too… so you better leave,” she replied angrily, but didn't look at him.

"You wouldn't be so mean to Torres," he told her as he left.

Ellie didn't even look to him, she just didn't like that man and would never like him. Angel went back to sleep, and Ellie began to recall the events a few months ago.

_"Good morning, Ellie, how are you today," Tim said as he came to work and sat across from her._

_"I'm fine," she smiled at him._

_"And what about your baby? I hope it don't make you very angry," he asked._

_Mainns came before she could answer._

_"Good morning, Oklahoma and McMee," Mainns said, sitting down at his table that once belonged to Nick._

_Ellie had no idea, if he was doing it on purpose or if he still didn't remember McGee's name._

_"It's McGee, you…“ She wanted to say something sharp but she was interrupted by Gibbs who told both of them they had a case. The two of them didn’t wait and followed Gibbs._

_Mainns may have been mean to her and McGee, but he never dared to be like that to Gibbs. Maybe he had respect for Gibbs or he was just afraid of him. But in any case, he was the only one whom Mainns listened to and whom he respected._

_The elevator closed behind them, and Ellie looked around to see, if anyone was watching her. Then she opened a folder that no one should have known about. She set her up to search for Nick on her own, she had some information there that Kasie was able to find. It was about the operation where Nick had been sent by the director. No one but Kasie, who had helped her with this, knew about it._

_She was so preoccupied with her own search that she didn't even notice that someone had stopped in front of her desk._

_"I see you're working on your own case," a familiar voice interrupted._

_"Lucia, what are you doing here?" Ellie asked in surprise, but didn't answer her question._

_"I came to pick you up for lunch ... our regular lunch ... or did you forget? I saw Gibbs and the boys leave so you won't be needed now. Ellie, you have to eat, you need it. And don't tell me you're not hungry."_

_"Okay ... okay, I'll go with you, but I have to finish something. Give me a minute," Ellie told her._

_"What are you doing, Ellie?" she asked her again._

_"I'm looking for Nick," was her only answer._

_"What, you know where he is? We haven't known anything about him for a long time. How did you find out where he is?" Lucia asked more quietly. She didn't want anyone to hear them._

_"Let’s come for that lunch and I'll tell you more. There are too many curious ears and eyes here. And the walls here have ears," Ellie said, going to their regular lunch with Lucia._

_She took her laptop with her so she could show her what Kasie had found out so far. They sat down at a table in a restaurant they had been visiting together since Nick was gone and since Ellie had found out she was pregnant. Lucia asked her what was going on and what she found out about Nick._

_"Kasie helped me find out what the mission is and who were those two agents that Nick was with. It was supposed to be an interagency cooperation. But I don't know which two other agencies are involved. We only know the names of the two agents, but nothing else. The two agents have been in it for a long time and they needed someone to help then. Nick was the only one who could do it. He couldn't tell me much about that mission. Kasie entered all his secret identities from all those years in secrecy into one of her programs, which she managed to create. We're looking for him all over South America, but we haven't found anything yet. The last thing we know is that he landed at the airport in Chile.“_

_"Does Gibbs know that you're doing this?"_

_"No one knows, and if Gibbs or Vance would find out, they'll lock me up at home until I give birth, and I could never even get close here. That's why we do it with Kasie secretly. No one should know, please don't tell anyone," she said Ellie._

_"Don't worry. But you do know it can be dangerous, right? We should hire a private detective to find him. It worked before,“ Lucia said, offering options._

_"It might work, but according to Kasie, it's something big. I asked my old contact in the NSA, but everyone is silent and acting like nothing is happening. I'm worried about what's going on."_

_"Ellie, get your hands off this. Even your contact from the NSA doesn't want to tell you what's going on. It's going to be very dangerous. Don't get me wrong, I want my brother back. I don't like it when he gets involved in such situations and operations. I'm glad he's relatively safe here in DC. And I'd like to go save him myself, but we have to leave it to others. Especially you, Ellie. Now you should be mainly thinking about the little baby. Stress doesn't help it. Tell Gibbs what you found out and wait to see what happens next," Lucia insisted._

_"I know all of this, but he is also the father of my child and I want to find him. He told me that he would try to end it right away and come back, but it had been 5 months since he had called anyone. If I wasn't pregnant, I would go there looking for him alone."_

_"Don't even think about it. I'll try to contact the detective who went looking for him last time and see what he finds out. Don't get involved, your child is now the most important and top priority for you," said Lucia._

_She wanted to find Nick too, but she knew she had to contact someone else, she couldn't save him herself. Lucia knew she had to tell Gibbs everything because she was afraid of Ellie doing something stupid. She wanted to find him at any cost, but she knew it wouldn't be so easy this time. This time, she had a bad feeling that this mission would not turn out well._


	2. The enemy within

6 months ago

When Nick said goodbye to Ellie, he didn’t feel very well, but he knew that this mission was very important and that he would try to end it as soon as possible. He went to his apartment to pack only the most necessary things. He slept a little and set off early the next day.

He left Washington as Nick Torres, but landed in Chile as Arturo Vazquez. Nick's new identity for the next few weeks. Nick hoped not for the next few months. He wanted to end it all quickly and return home. He looked around the airport looking for his contact.

"Arturo Vazquez, welcome to Chile," came a voice behind him.

"Yes, and you are…" Nick asked.

"Markus Thomson, come with me," man told him and Nick followed.

When the two men arrived to one of the warehouses, another man was already waiting for them. Nick guessed it was the second agent he had to contact.

"You are Arturo Vazquez, I guess. Or should I say Nick Torres? Anyway, welcome to Chile, it‘ss a bit of a rough region," the other man said.

"If you think I'm scared, you're quite wrong," Nick told him.

"Come on in, someone could eavesdrop on us here," the other man said.

"I'm Steve Robertson of CIA and this one is Markus Thomson, you've already had a chance to meet him. He's from FBI. You'll probably be the famous secret agent Nick Torres of NCIS.“

"Well, don't believe everything you've heard about me," Nick told them.

"Don't worry, you're well known in our circles and your accomplishments are much appreciated," the FBI agent told him.

"That's nice to hear, but I'd like to know why I'm here. I know our bosses agreed on this covert operation a long time ago. I'd like to know what’s going on.“

"Agent Thomson will let you know," Robertson told him and went to the next room.

"Nice guy," Nick said.

"You have to get used to him. He's been here for a long time and I think it's done a lot," Markus Thomson told him.

"So why am I here?" Nick asked again.

"As Robertson said, we know about your secret years and what you've accomplished. And your boss recommended you for our operation, so you're here. The point is that Robertson has infiltrated one local cartel over the months he has been here. According to him the members of that cartel are small players, but they are an extended hand of one local larger cartel that has contacts even in the government. This cartel is a quite new player, but they have great power and want to rule over all of South America and maybe even Mexico. They make deals with all the other players in their industry. They want to be the biggest player."

"Wow, I'm probably not surprised that Vance sent me here," Nick sighed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I just hope no one is waiting for you at home, because this will unfortunately take a long time. My wife moved to England to see her sister. She couldn't take this anymore. On one hand, I'm not surprised. I know she was still worried about me and she didn't want to wait for me all the time. On the other hand, I'm glad she's safe somewhere, although I miss her," Markus told him.

"I'm sorry," Nick replied. Yet he hasn’t said that he had someone at home waiting for him. He had known both men for only a few hours and did not know, if he could trust either of them.

"You're done with your chatter?" Robertson growled.

They both looked at him and waited for what he wanted to tell them.

"I contacted my people in CIA and told them that the operation could start. That you joined us, Torres. I have some orders, so we won't wait for anything and we should start, if you two want a quick end," Robertson growled again.

"Sure. So why don’t you inform us and let's get to it," Markus said.

"Yeah, sure. So what's going to happen?" Nick asked.

Robertson threw two files in front of them and left again. There was information about their mission and their secret identities.

"Markus, how long has he been here?" Nick asked as he picked up his file.

"Long enough. I've been here alone for almost 5 months myself. But from what I know, he's been here even longer. Probably for more than a year, but I don’t know for sure. Anyway, it hass signed on," Markus said.

"Yeah, you can see it on him. Even though I understand him a little bit, I've been doing this for eight years. But it changes you," Nick said.

"Yeah, I read your file," Markus told him.

They talked for a while and then began to study their files, which contained everything about their identities and the whole mission.

After another two weeks, they were finally able to get into the local little cartel. All communication with the cartel was handled by Robertson. He always just told them that he had been here the longest and that he had been in contact with them for a long time and that the cartel trusted him the most. The two of them had no choice but to trust him and follow him.

The day when they were to contact them finally arrived. They began packing their things and getting rid of what might betray them. Nick was already packed, looking at the picture in his hand for a moment.

"Your wife?" Agent Thomson asked.

"No… not yet. She's my girlfriend. We've been together for a few months," Nick replied

"She's pretty," Thomson smiled at him.

"She's ... well, my friend, we're up to business," Nick said, tucking a picture of Ellie into his pocket and following Markus and Robertson into action.

When they finally met the cartel, it wasn't exactly what they expected. They were all standing in the middle of a dirt road somewhere on the edge of a small town, all pointing their weapons at each other.

"If one of us doesn't lay down the weapons, we won't get very far," Agent Thomson said.

"You'll put it off first," one of the cartel member shouted at them.

"Hey guys, we don't want trouble," Robertson began.

"Amigo, you brought the two of them here. Who the hell are they?" the cartel man said again.

"They are my partners, they have worked in the States for a long time. I invited them to help us. They have contacts in America and they could help you finish this whole thing," Robertson told him.

"We'll try them, but you'll be responsible for them if something goes wrong. Who are your friends, Rodrigo?" said the leader of the cartel, using Robertson’s cover name Rodrigo.

"Arturo Vazquez and Patrik Mayer," he introduced Nick and Markus.

"All right, gentleman. Come with us now, we'll show you what we have for you," said the cartel leader who called himself Pablo.

Unfortunately, what neither of them wanted, was fulfilled. This mission has been going on for a few months now. Nick was annoyed that he had promised Ellie that he would return as soon as possible, but as it seemed, this mission would not be over any time soon. They did all the dirty work they could for the cartel, which they told them to do. Some things were very bad. The cartel wanted them to carry weapons, drugs and, worst of all, they had to get rid of uncomfortable witnesses and other people. For Nick and Markus, this was not something they wanted to do. So Markus figured out that insted of killing the people as they were ordered to, they would just rather hide them. Those people were innocent and unfortunately they got in trouble because of being in a desperate situation and so they owed the cartel money. But Markus and Nick never told Robertson about any of it. Not that they didn't believe him, but he didn't have to know everything. Markus sent those people to a remote village, hoping the cartel would not come to them. These people were not to blame for what happened. The members of the cartel were simply ruthless. What Markus and Nick were worried about, was that Robertson was enjoying it all. He didn't seem to be playing his part.

The next few days were practically the same, but what they did not expect that everything would go wrong. Robertson argued with Pablo, but none of them heard what it was all about. Pablo suddenly drew a gun at Robertson and aimed it at him. Nick and Markus reacted immediately and ran to them to stop Pablo from shooting. But before they could do anything, Pablo pulled the trigger and Robertson fell dead.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Markus shouted at him.

"Your friend was a traitor and he didn't deserve anything else. I just hope you two aren't the same, otherwise the same fate awaits you as the poor man here," Pablo told them.

"No, we're not," Markus tried to convince him.

"All right then, gentlemen, I have another job for you to do. I'm sorry for your friend, but you must know that betrayal never pays off here," Pablo replied, and left. He told his people to take care of Robertson’s dead body.

For the next two weeks, they did everything for Pablo and his people until one day Pablo confronted them that they didn't trust them either and that they were the same as Robertson was.

"I don't think I trust you," Pablo grinned.

"Why? We did all the work for you, for crying out loud. We did everything what you asked us to do," Markus shouted.

"Yes, but we know from a good source that you and Mr. Vazquez here, or I'd rather say special agents Nick Torres and Markus Thomson, are feds," he said.

"That's not true," Nick tried to save their cover. But unfortunately they seemed to have been betrayed.

"But please, Nick, you know very well that you and Markus have been betrayed," said a voice they thought could not be true.

"Robertson… how comes that you're alive? And what the hell is all this supposed to mean?" Markus asked in disbelief.

"Do you think that my friends would let me die? Anyway, for your information, I feel good, gentlemen," Robertson grinned, also pulling out his weapon and aiming it at Nick.

"How long have you been in this?" Nick asked.

"And why are you doing all this?" Markus added.

"But gentlemen, so many questions, there will be time to answer them later. Close them, I will decide it later what would we do about them," Robertson told the cartel people.

They threw Nick and Markus into a windowless room. The only source of light were the small holes in the door, which were apparently the remnants of the bullets. They kept them there for several days and all they gave them was water and some leftover food, just to keep them conscious. Robertson went to see them every day and asked for information from her agencies about the operation.

"Well, Torres, why don’t you finally tell me what NCIS knows about all this?" Robertson shouted at him, and one of his men punched him again.

"We told you everything we know. There wasn't much tht we would know. What the hell do you want from us?" Markus shouted at him.

"There's more you are not saying ... especially Torres. Talk to me, Nick, you know more, don't you?" Robertson grinned at him.

"I don't know anything, you idiot ... leave us alone," Nick told him.

But unfortunately, after these words he only earned more punches to the face. Nick's face had been swollen and eyebrows and his upper lip was bloodied since all the beating. Nick remained silent, but only earned more and more punches to his face and abdomen. Nick didn't want Markus to suffer, so he wanted to draw everything on himself.

"Gentlemen, I'm running out of patience. Well, I think you two will probably need more motivation to be persuaded to cooperate," Robertson grinned at them and walked away. Both Nick and Markus earned a few more punches into their bodies.

"Don't provoke him, Nick, he'll vent his anger on you," Markus told him.

"I don't care now, you have to go back to your family," Nick explained his behavior.

"Nick, don't do this, you have to go home too ... we have to try to escape," Markus suggested.

Markus wanted to say something else, but he didn't get to it because Robertson came with his people and they started beating them again. Robertson asked his questions again, to which neither answered. It was clear to them that Robertson was running out of patience.

"As I said, gentlemen, you both need more motivation to start cooperating, so I prepaired for you a little example of what I mean by that," he said, walking over to Markus first and pulling out his phone.

"Dear friend, you have a very beautiful little family. Your wife is very beautiful. What a pity she left you and lives so far away. It's very nice in London now," he began to show him photos of his family living in London. Markus himself had no idea where his family was.

"You touch them and I swear I'll kill you," Markus told him.

"Friend, these are just empty threats. If anything happens to me, your little family won't live to see the next day. And the same goes for you as well, Nicholas," he said, turning to Nick.

"Let's see what we have for you, Nick." He pulled out his phone again and began to show Nick pictures of his sister, niece, and team members.

"Leave them alone," Nick shouted at him, trying to get out of the grip of Robertson's people, but it was a futile fight. He just earned another beating. Robertson grinned at him angrily and leaned over and showed him his phone once more.

"And one more thing, Nick. You have a very beautiful girlfriend. Her name is Ellie, right? Well, Nick, you have a good taste in women. that's true. And I think I should also congratulate you,"

"On what," Nick asked incomprehensibly.

"My friend, you don't know? Well… I'm glad I can be the one to tell you that you're going to be a father."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, your beautiful Eleanor is pregnant," she showed him photos taken by the man who was watching Elle‘s each step.

"I see you still can't believe it, my friend. I should probably congratulate you again. However, I'm sorry you'll probably never meet the little one. Unless you and Markus do what I want you to do. If you stand up against me again, there is someone in DC who will take care of your lovely little blonde," said Robertson.

"Leave her alone! If anything happens to her, I swear you won't even know where your teeth are," Nick threatened, but it didn't help much, Robertson himself struck him.

"Gentlemen, I'll say it again. If you don't do what I want, your dear women will die and I'll make sure you see it," Robertson laughed.

"Why the hell are you doing all this?" Markus asked.

"Why? This job cost me everything, I have nothing to lose and this was a great opportunity. I'm doing it all for myself," Robertson laughed.

"You only do it for money?"

"Yes, of course. You two could be like that too, if you wanted. But no, you two have very good hearts, you're both way too good for it," Robertson said. "And please, don't tell me anything about betraying my country. My country has ceased to exist for me long time ago. I can achieve something here and no one, including you, will stop me," Robertson left again.

Nick tried to get out of the shackles Robertson had bound them with. He and Markus were tied to the ground.

"Nick, don't be silly, he'll come back and you'll earn more punches again," Markus tried to persuade him not to do something stupid.

"We have to get away. Robertson is a lunatic and he will continue to enjoy our torture. You have heard him on your own. He will hurt our families. We have to try to escape, Markus," Nick told him, trying to get out of their imprisonment.

It was later in the night, and Nick and Markus were recovering again from the torture that Robertson had performed on them again just few hours before. Markus seemed to fall asleep, all exhausted, when Nick finally managed to get out of his shackles.

"Hey, Markus ... man, we need to get out. Markus, can you hear me," Nick said. Markus somehow didn't react to him.

"Markus, my friend, please stay with me, you can't die now," Nick shook him a little rougher again now to bring his friend to consciousness.

"Hey, Ni...ck, what's going on," Markus asked, confused, barely keeping his eyes open.

"We have to try to run, we have the best opportunity now. It's dark and nobody's watching us. Everyone's got a little drunk," Nick explained.

"Go without me, I can't do it... I think they must have broken me a few ribs during the last beating. Nick, you have to get away. Tell my family that I tried to survive and one day come back for me, if I survive," Markus urged, breathing hard.

"No ... I won't leave you here," Nick said firmly, helping him to his feet.

It was hard, because Markus was on the edge of unconsciousness, but somehow he managed to stay awake and with Nick's help got out to one of the cars that belonged to Robertson and his men. It was suspicious that there was no one in the surroundings who could see them getting into one of those cars. Nick didn't expect anything and started to leave quickly.

However, the noise alerted two men who were not waiting for anything and started firing at the car. They were lucky the bullets hadn't hit them yet. Bullets were flying around them. Nick drove fast and soon got out of reach of Robertson's camp. He didn't know where he was going, but he wanted to get to a village as soon as possible to get Markus to the doctor. He drove for almost an hour before reaching a small village. The noise of the car echoed through the village into the quiet night. An elderly man came out of the house with a gun and aimed it at Nick.

"Please, sir, my friend needs help," he tried to speak to the man, but he still aimed his weapon at him.

"You're from the cartel, we don't have anything anymore. You took everything from us, we don't have anything anymore. Leave," the man shouted at Nick.

"We're not here to take anything else from you. My friend is injured and needs help. Please, sir, we're not here to hurt you," Nick urged.

"If you escaped the cartel and are no longer their member, then who are you?" the man asked.

"We're American agents and we're here to stop the cartel. Please, sir, we're not enemies, we just need help," Nick said.

"Well, I have to trust you I guess," the man said, waved at the other two men who had joined him in the meantime to help get Markus into the house. Nick followed them slowly, checking out to see, if anyone was watching them.

"I'm Nick and this is Markus."

"How did you get out of the cartel? People usually get away from them in a different way," another man asked.

"We just ran away. Gentlemen, please, my friend needs help. They beat him up really badly," Nick insisted.

"I can get a doctor, he lives nearby, but I don't know how long it will take," the man said.

"If you need help with anything, I can do it," Nick offered.

"You will follow me to see the doctor, and your friend will remain safe here," the man replied.

"Okay ... okay, let’s go and get my friend a medical help as soon as possible. The sooner we get it, the sooner we leave your village. We don't want to cause you any trouble," Nick told him.

They returned after almost two hours. It was slowly dawning. The doctor they found in one of the neighboring villages looked at Markus‘ as well as Nick's injuries. However, Nick insisted that he was fine and that he didn't need any treatment or care and that Markus was more important. After the first examination, Markus appeared to have a severe concussion and apparently a few broken ribs. However, the doctor wasn‘t able to say anything else without a further examination in a hospital. Nick agreed that the doctor would try to get Markus to a larger city with hospital, where Marcus would receive a proper treatment. But before any of this could happen, several cars arrived in the village. Nick recognized Robertson and Pablo's men in them. They were here because of them. Nick knew that one of the locals had to betray them.

"Nicholas, Markus… friends… I know you're here," Robertson shouted, holding a local woman with a gun next to her head.

"Gentlemen, come on… you don't want anything to happen to this woman… well, show yourself or it won't turn out well for these people… and you wouldn't want that either."

"Okay, I'm going out, but don't hurt her," Nick shouted from the house, walking out with his hands above his head.

"Where is your dear friend? Where is Markus?" Robertson asked.

"He's in the house, he‘s not feeling well because of you," Nick growled at him.

"I like to do my job properly," Robertson grinned, keeping his gun to the woman's head.

"You call it a job? Let the woman go… let the people be. They didn't do anything to you," Nick shouted at him.

Robertson motioned to his people to pull Markus and the other people out of the house. His men dragged them all out and threw Markus roughly to the ground.

"Oh poor FBI agent," Robertson laughed.

"You're crazy," Nick said.

"I know. This is what happens to you after so many years in this kind of job. Take those two. And the doctor is coming with us as wel," Robertson ordered his people.

They took Nick, Markus, and the doctor and loaded them into the car in which Robertson arrived. Robertson himself said something to his people outside, then got in the car and drove back to his camp. The last thing Nick heard was gunfire. Nick knew that Robertson had done something crazy to those people. He was a complete lunatic, and Nick knew there was nothing good for him or Markus.


	3. When the hope in the light disappears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this chapter ready for a long time, but I wasn't sure if it would be published. Nobody reads it anyway ... unfortunately. 😥

After several long weeks in the hospital, Ellie and her daughter Angel were finally supposed to get home. She hadn't heard anything about Nick during that time. She asked McGee, Gibbs, but no one knew anything. The last thing she knew was that he was lost somewhere in Chile. She was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he was dead and that she would raise her daughter on her own. Billy Mainns picked her up at the hospital.

"Hey Oklahoma, your ride is here," Mainns entered the room again, too loudly.

"What the hell are you doing here? Gibbs was supposed to come for me," Ellie told him uncomfortably.

"We have a case, and he and McMee ... McGee, they went to see what’s going on. I'll join them later. Therefore Gibbs asked me to take you home. I'm happy to do it for you, so let's go home, I hate hospitals," Mainns said, starting to take her things.

"Let it be. I can take care of it myself."

"Come on, Oklahoma, you're grumpy at me again, I just want to help you," Mainns told her, letting her do what she wanted.

"All right, take the bag and let's go. You won't touch my daughter. Just to make it clear, okay? You take us home and that's the end of it," Ellie snapped.

"Could I know what I did to you? Why are you still so uncomfortable with me? I could also leave you in the lurch and go solve the case with Gibbs, and you could have taken a taxi."

"I'm sorry, just take me home," she avoided his question and walked to the door, leaving him far behind.

"Bishop ... Oklahoma, will you answer my question?" he said.

"I'm not going to answer anything to you here and now... maybe one day," Ellie cut off the debate, walking to his car and being taken home.

"So here we are, I'll help you get to your apartment with it, and then I will finally leave you alone, if I still bother you so badly," Mainns told her, helping her with the things to the apartment. He laid her things on the floor of her apartment, said goodbye to her, and left quickly, leaving her alone with her daughter.

Ellie just sighed and went to put the baby in the crib, which Gibbs had prepared for her. She didn't even know where he took the time, but she was grateful for all this. She was grateful for her friends who had done so much for her in the last few weeks. She had no idea if she would ever be able to pay them back. Lucia and Kasie adapted her apartment a little so that she could be there with her daughter and feel comfortable.

After working on the case, Gibbs stopped by to see, if she needed anything, and apologized for not coming for her on his own.

„It's okay, Mainns drove me all right. Gibbs. I decided to go to Oklahoma for a few weeks to see my family. I need to be somewhere to také my mind off things. Where can I find out what I'm going to do next. Everything reminds me of Nick here, and I need to be gone for a while," Ellie told him.

"Ellie, do what's the best for you. You know I'll support you in everything you decide to do. Your mom will be happy to have you two there," Gibbs said.

"I ... thank you very much, Gibbs, please keep looking."

"I‘ve never stopped, and I never will, unless I find out what happened to Torres," Gibbs assured her.

Ellie just smiled at him and hugged him, but it didn't take long, because her daughter demanded her attention.

"I'll just leave, someone else needs you. Ellie, if you need anything, I'm always here for you," Gibbs smiled.

"Thank you, thank you for everything," she hugged him again before Gibbs eventually left.

Two days later, Ellie was about to leave to Oklahoma with her daughter. She didn't want to bother anyone to take her to the airport. She knew Gibbs and McGee were out of town and she didn't want to ask anyone else, so she took a cab. But what she did not expect, the driver did not turn to the airport, but drove on.

"What are you doing? Where are you going?" Ellie told him.

"A surprise awaits you," the driver replied.

"Why the hell are you doing this? Please stop," Ellie began to panic and her daughter started to cry. She tried to call someone, but her phone had no signal.

"There’s no point in trying, I have the jammer. You should try to calm down and you should try to calm down the child too, or I will lose my nerves," the driver growled, driving on to the unknown.

After almost half an hour later the car stopped in a remote area of the city. It was full of warehouses and buildings that seemed to be abandoned. Mainns came out of one of the bulding with two other men.

"Hi, Oklahoma, welcome!" Mainns smiled.

"What the hell are you doing here? Where is Gibbs?" she asked many questions.

"That’s a little surprise, my dear. I have prepared it for you and your cute little girl. Well, it will be more of a surprise for her father, too."

"What do you know about Nick? Where is he?" she asked.

"My dear, you will find out in time. Why do you have so many questions? I'll tell you all," Mainns grinned.

"I won't move anywhere with you until you tell me everything," Ellie defied.

"Yes, you will, or would you like your daughter to be an orphan so soon?" Mainns laughed, drawing his weapon on her.

"Move, Bishop, do it," he shouted at her.

Ellie picked up the carrier with Angel and followed Mainnsin to a building full of computers and other equipment.

"What is this all for?" she wondered.

"Another question… you'll find out everything, there will be time for explaining, don’t worry.“

"Then why am I here?"

"And more questions. Take her to her prepared room. I'll let the boss know we have her," Mainns told his people.

They took Ellie to another room where a bed, a table, and a lot of things for her daughter were already ready for her. Someone seemed to have been planning all this for a long time. They took her in that room and locked her up and told her that Mainns would come to see her. He needed to talk to her about something important.

Two hours passed and her daughter was upset all the time and didn't stop crying, as if she felt something was wrong.

"Greetings again, Oklahoma. I hope you're comfortable here," Mainns told her.

"What the hell am I doing here and what the hell do you want from me?" she asked.

"Still the same questions, Eleanor. Can‘t you just accept that you're just mine for now and nothing will change it?" he laughed, trying to take her hand.

"I am not yours and I never will be. Why the hell am I here?“ she raised her voice and pulled away from him as best she could.

"Come on, Ellie, you're our insurance. So that your beloved Nicholas can do what my boss wants him to do. Otherwise, nothing nice awaits you, your daughter and the whole team. Nicholas will see you all die, if he doesn't do what he has to do," Mainns laughed.

"Nick is alive?" Ellie asked in disbelief.

"Yes, he's alive, but he's a little busy right now," he told her.

"Where is he? Is he okay?" Ellie began again.

"You have questions again. No, my dear, I won‘t answer anything for you now. You‘ll find out all this in time. But now you don't need to know anything and don't worry, you will be well taken care of here. My people will bring you what you need, don't worry. You will have a good time here with your daughter," and he left again. He locked her up again, so she couldn't run anywhere.

Ellie couldn't believe Nick was alive the whole time. But unfortunately she couldn't believe she was trapped here, just because these people wanted something from Nick - she just hoped that someone would be able to find her as soon as possible. Gibbs knew he was going home to Oklahoma, so she hoped to find out as soon as possible that she hadn't gotten there. And she hoped that her team would go looking for her as soon as possible. She was just afraid of what Mainns was capable of. She was afraid she would thwart attempts to find her.

A few hours later, Gibbs got a phone call from Barbara, saying that Ellie hadn't arrived. And that she's worried about her. Gibbs reassured her that he would find out where she was. He returned to the office

"We have a body, boss?" McGee asked as Gibbs sat down at his desk.

"No, but this is something more serious. Where the hell is Mainns?” he asked.

"He said he had to secure something and he went somewhere. What's going on?" McGee asked.

"Bishop didn't get home. And now Barbara called me and she sounded worried. She tried to call her, but Bishop didn't take it. Try to target her phone and find out where she is," Gibbs ordered.

"I'm on it," McGee went to his computer, searching. "What do you think that happened?" he Gibbs asked after a moment's silence.

"I don't know, but I hope it's just a misunderstanding. And get Mainns to come here immediately," Gibbs told him, walking up to Vance.

McGee tried everything he could to find Ellie‘s phone, but without any success.

"Do you have something?" he asked as he returned from Vance.

"Nothing, boss, absolutely nothing. The last time Ellie used her phone was when she called a cab. But the taxi didn't get to the airport as it should. I tried to find the car, but nothing. And according to the taxi service, it wasn't even their car. Gibbs, I don't know where Ellie is, "McGee said and it was not easy for him to admit it.

It was clear that Gibbs would rather hit something. Torres was nowhere to be found and now the same situation was happening with Ellie. He knew this couldn't be a coincidence. He knw that someone was targeting their team.

"Where the hell is Mainns?" Gibbs asked.

"I didn't find him either, his phone is deaf," McGee told him.

Gibbs growled and walked away quickly, leaving McGee alone again.

Mainns told his people to call him, if it was necessary. Meanwhie, he had to get back to NCIS so that no suspicions arose. When he returned to NCIS, he immediately knew that something was wrong because Gibbs had only said a few words to him. He and McGee were busy finding Ellie.

"Hey McMee ... what's going on here?" Mainns asked.

McGee preferred not to say anything about his name.

"Ellie didn't get home to Oklahoma and her phone can't be targeted."

"Maybe she just wanted some time for herself. I wouldn't turn it into a problem right away," Mainns told him.

"I don't think Ellie would ever do that. Not now, when she's taking care of her daughter. I don't think you know her as well as I do. So, please don't say such things about her," McGee said angrily.

"Sorry then. How I can help," he asked.

"If you wanna help, you can start looking for Bishop with us," Gibbs growled at him.

"I apologize, Gibbs, for my late arrival."

"Okay, but don't let it happen again. McGee, any news?" Gibbs asked.

"Nothing, boss. It looks like the cab never existed," McGee said.

Gibbs just said something quietly to himself and sat down at his desk. The room got silent at that moment. No one spoke, and all that could be heard was the clatter of fingers on keyboards and the rustling of paper from the surrounding tables.

After more than three hours, they still had nothing, McGee no longer knew what to do as he tried everything he knew. Gibbs told everyone to go home and sleep for the next day. Mainns didn't wait for anything and left quickly, not wanting to try his luck for Gibbs eventually telling them to stay.

"Gibbs, I'll stay here and try to find Ellie," McGee decided to not go home.

"No, just go. Think of your family, you have to be with them. Tomorrow, we will all be refreshed, so we might come up with new ideas," Gibbs replied.

"But boss."

"No, McGee, go home. That's an order," Gibbs interrupted him, as he took the stairs on his own.

So McGee went home as well, though he didn't like it. But there was nothing else what he could do. He wanted to find Ellie at all costs, even though he knew it would be a difficult task.

A few days passed and still with no results. There was no sign of Ellie anywhere. They had tried everything they knew, but nothing led to any good lead. It all looked like Ellie just disappeard. Gibbs was more grumpy and angry than usual, and he vented his anger mainly on Mainns, who was still late and didn't take Ellie's disappearance seriously.

Mainns and his men did their best so Ellie coudn’t be found. He did everything he could to make McGee not find anything. He tried to pretend Ellie’s disappearance had hit him a little, but only he knew the truth. Every day he returned to the place where he held Ellie.

"Hello, Oklahoma!" Mainns greeted her as he entered her room, where she was held. „Oh, you won't talk to me again, will you? Come on, Eleanor, you're not doing so bad here. Your beloved Nick just has to do whatever we want him to do and then we let you go," he reminded her again.

"Are you not talking to me? Come on, Ellie, I haven't done anything terrible to you," he stepped closer to her, trying to stroke her cheek. But she dodged his touch.

"Oh I know, I'm not your beloved Nick, but don't worry. Eventually you'll be glad for the way I treat you. You are a beautiful woman and as I said you will be mine whether you like it or not," he smiled at her and tried to stroke her again, but it ended with the same result again, so he left.

"Don't worry, little girl, someone will find us and save us," she kissed her daughter and began to sing softly to reassure her. Since the moment they got there, Angel was restless and crying most of the time.

But Ellie knew it was not going to be as easy as sheimagined. However, she had full confidence in Gibbs and McGee, and she just hoped that both of them would soon break through and find out where Ellie and Angel were held.

She didn't know how long she had been here. Mainns just kept coming and going, treating her as if she belonged to him. He was making he proposals, trying to get her. It was obvious that he wanted to have her. She was afraid of him. She knew very well what he was talking about, he let her know from the very beginning and he did not hide it in any way.

A few more days passed and McGee finally came across something, but he didn't like what he found out. It was way too hard for him to believe it. He looked at Mainns working on his paperwork, which Gibbs had given him as a punishment for his late arrivals and behavior. McGee needed Mainns to leave for a while and needed to show Gibbs what he found out.

"Mainns, go to Kasie's. She has some updates on the case," McGee told him, looking at Gibbs to see if he would say anything.

Mainns just growled, but he left, not wanting to make any of them even more angry than they already were.

"McGee, what was this all about?" Gibbs waited for an explanation.

"Boss, I found out something, but you won't like it.“ Instead of saying anythng else, McGee showed him his screen to see, what he had found.

"What's happening?"

"It's Mainns- I've been watching him for a few days, and I think he might know where Ellie is," he said.

"You watched him? McGee, what do you mean?"

"As I said, I was watching him. He always goes to one warehouse in a remote part of town after work. Boss, I think he's involved in kidnapping Ellie. Maybe he’s even holding her in that warehouse. There are a lot of people moving there and they are not exactly people with a good reputation. Kasie and I did some facial recognition, and what we found is not very good news. Many of them have such a long criminal record that I have never seen it anywhere else. All of those people are involved in drugs, the sale of weapons, their illegal possession. But also human trafficking somewhere in South America. And a lot of other crimes as well. Boss, this isn't good. And Mainns has something to do with it,” McGee finished his speech.

„Tim, you do realize that this is a serious accusation against your colleague and also the federal agent, right? You can’t just throw accusatios like that. You have to have some solid evidence. I know you don't like him, it's not Tony or Nick. Mainns is a little different and he never fit into the team, but you can't say that about him unless you have evidence," Gibbs told him.

"Isn‘t that clea? He interacts with those people! I saw him going there and he wasn’t going out for some time. It wasn't a quick visit, he spent a very long time there," but McGee had to quickly interrupt his speech and hode the photos because Mainns was just returning from Kasie’s office.

"Look, McMee, I don't understand why you sent me there. She had nothing to do with the case. She was just holding me back," Mainns said, looking suspiciously at McGee, while he was about to sit down at his desk.

It was time for everyone to go home. Mainns, as usual, didn’t wait for anything. He just yelled "good night" at the other two agents and left quickly. McGee took advantage of this, and with Kasie he embarked on their operation to monitor him. Unfortunately, they didn't tell anyone about it. They organized it all on their own. As soon as Mainns left the Navy Yard, they set out to watch him.

"McGee, do you really think that this is a good idea? You should have said something, at least to Gibbs. He could have been your backup," Kasie told him halfway to the warehouse.

"We'll take photos, try remote monitoring, and see what we can find. I need some evidence of Mainns being involved," he told her, continuing to watch Mainns‘ car.

Mainns went to the warehouse again, where his men were waiting for him to arrive. McGee and Kasie stopped nearby. Fortunately, it was dark and their car was not easy to spot. It was far enough from the warehouse for anyone to notice it, but also close enough to take good photos. The remote microphonemight caught some conversations as well.

After an hour, they had enough photos and interviews that they could finally confront Mainns. McGee and Kasie decided to leave so that no one would come to them and reveal their presence.

The next day, McGee and Gibbs went to see Vance to tell him about the evidence they gathered. They wanted to do it by themselves without Mainns, whom they left alone in the other room.

"Agent McGee, Gibbs has told me about your serious accusations against Agent Mainns. Do you have some evidence to support your claims?" Vance asked.

"Yes, I do, director. I was watching him yesterday. I know I shouldn't have done it, but we needed some evidence that would undoubtedly pointed at Mainns," McGee tried to defend himself when both men were about to object againts his actions.

"We'll talk about that later. Now, Agent McGee, what do you have for us to see?" the director asked.

"Photos of Mainns having a very friendly time with those people. We also gathered a lot of recordings. I think you should hear it. It's clear that he's holding someone in that warehouse," McGee said, passing on the files and recordings they had made the night before.

After gathering this evidence, they began planning how to get Mainns and his men. Searching for Ellie was investigated only by McGee and Gibbs, Mainns was not allowed to check upon any new evidence. They let him do the classic work on cases and other investigations.

They started watching him by themselves. Mainns did the same thing every day. He would return to the warehouse, trying to persuade Ellie to cooperate, but without any effect. Ellie was silent and unwilling to cooperate. She refused to talk to him. Mainns was running out of patience and there was no news from his boss, who had organized all this. So it was up to Mainns to handle everything on his own.

A few days later, they had everything ready to start their rescue mission and get Ellie home. Gibbs sent Mainns home early, saying he still had some work to do with McGee. Mainns didn’t say a word and left. He began to feel a strange tension in the team. He just hoped that no one in NCIS suspected anything and that everything would continue as his boss planned.

McGee and Gibbs joined the team that was about to raid the warehouse, where Mainns was seen to go to. Vance gave this mission a go and watched the whole operation over together with Jack Slone from MTAC. The intervention teams, together with the local police, were deployed so that they could intervene all at once on Vance’s order.

Gibbs led one team and McGee was the commander of another one. The director did not wait for anything and gave the order start the operation. They all stormed into the building together. However, all the people inside already knew that something was coming up, so they had already started destroying all the records and computers. Mainns' men didn't wait for anything and started firing at the intervention teams.

Ellie, who was held in the next room, knew that something was going on. One of Mainns's men came to her to take her to safety.

"Come on, take your baby and move," he aimed his weapon at her to force her to move. But Ellie refused.

"Move, or your child will die," he said again, but this time he aimed his weapon at her daughter.

"I don't think so, let them be," came a voice behind him. The man could feel a gun on his back.

"I said something, leave them alone," the voice repeated. Ellie knew it was Gibbs.

The man had two options. Either to give up or end up with a bullet in his back. So the man lowered his weapon and left. Ellie was glad to see Gibbs. She didn't wait for anything and hugged him.

„There will be time for that later, now we have to get you home," Gibbs told her. However, he was glad she was okay. He took her and her daughter away.

However, what none of them knew was that Mainns had his safety measure. The entire warehouse was loaded with a lot of explosives.

Mainns himself managed to escape. Somewhere in the distance, Gibbs heard one of the intervening police officers say something about a large amount of explosives. Everyone immediately started to get out. There was no time to call the pyrotechnics, nor was there time to seize something out of the possession left by the people. They all had to go immediately. Mainns watched the whole scene from a distance. He didin’t wait for anything and detonated the explosives. He just smiled when the whole warehouse caught on fire in a few seconds.

"Agent McGee, did Gibbs and Bishop get out?" Vance asked.

"They did not, director. I haven't seen them, I don't know where they are," McGee replied.

After his words, there was a dead silence in the room. Everyone expected McGee to confirm that Gibbs and Bishop had gotten out, but he just couldn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will also be happy for any comment that gives me the strength to write further.


End file.
